Spirit AeroSystems is widely known as a supplier of major parts and structures to Boeing commercial airplanes and to a lesser degree, Boeing’s European rival, Airbus. But since its inception in 2005, the Wichita, Kansas-based Tier One supplier has focused on diversifying its business and lowering its reliance on Boeing, which in 2017 accounted for 79 percent of Spirit’s $7 billion in net revenue.
One of the ways in which Spirit leaders hope to accomplish that is by building parts of other types of aircraft, including in the rotorcraft space. That’s where Spirit has begun to leverage its expertise in building fuselages—it manufactures the entire 737 fuselage as well as parts of all other Boeing airliner fuselages—and more specifically, composite fuselages, to expand its fortunes in the vertical-lift arena.
“We are using lessons learned from all of our fuselage structures business, including our commercial fuselage business,” Dwayne Johnston, Spirit v-p of defense programs, told AIN. “We have developed capabilities and continue to work on breakthrough technologies that can be directly applied to the rotorcraft market. Our capabilities reach across the aerospace industry for design and build of large complex structures.”
Spirit’s foray into helicopters began in 2006 when it was awarded the contract to build the composite fuselage of Lockheed Martin Sikorsky’s CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter for the Marine Corps. In 2010 it delivered the first of nine test unit fuselages to Sikorsky. The contract calls for up to 200 of the copters that Spirit has begun low-rate production of at two a month. It replaces the Marines’ 1980s-era CH-53E models. Spirit builds the fuselages—fashioned from composites and titanium—in a 20,000-square-foot building in Wichita. where it is transported by truck to Sikorsky’s final assembly plant in Connecticut. The cabin of the fuselage is 30 feet long and nearly 9 feet wide, and its height is nearly 7 feet. The CH-53K can lift 27,000 pounds—the equivalent of two motorhomes—over 126 miles, at a maximum temperature of 91.5 degrees. Its lifting capability is more than triple that of the CH-53E. It can also transport 32 troops or 24 for medical evacuation.
“We are also…supporting Lockheed Martin Sikorsky’s efforts to win international foreign military sales contracts for the 53K,” Johnston said.
Spirit took on its second vertical-lift vehicle project in 2012 when Bell Flight pegged it to fashion a composite fuselage for its medium-class entry in the Army’s Future Vertical Lift program, the V-280 Valor tiltrotor. Spirit designed and manufactured the fuselage in 22 months and handed it over to Bell in September 2015. The first aircraft is currently undergoing a flight-test and demonstration program while Bell awaits an official FVL program launch. “As the Future Vertical Lift plan materializes, Spirit is well positioned to support the volume of helicopters the DoD [Department of Defense] and foreign countries will be replacing over the next decade,” Johnston said.
Spirit believes the defense sector promises the most growth for its vertical-lift business. As such, “we have looked at civil vertical lift opportunities and will look at them on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
The CH-53K is the only in-production rotorcraft program at Spirit, so vertical lift “is not currently a significant part of our business,” Johnston said. But Spirit is exploring other helicopter and vertical-lift opportunities on the defense side. That includes the Marines’ large drone MUX program. “We are currently working with the OEMs on some very interesting opportunities where we believe we can bring a strong value proposition,” he said. “We are constantly evaluating other opportunities like the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft that will support capability set one for the Army’s future vertical lift program.”
Johnston said Spirit anticipates a coming need for large-scale replacement of the defense rotorcraft fleet, of which it hopes to capture some portion.
“With the recapitalization of the vertical lift fleet that is planned over the next decade we plan on it becoming a much larger part of our business,” he said.
Spirit AeroSystems is widely known as a supplier of major parts and structures to Boeing commercial airplanes and to a lesser degree, Boeing’s European rival, Airbus. But since its inception in 2005, the Wichita, Kansas-based Tier One supplier has focused on diversifying its business and lowering its reliance on Boeing, which in 2017 accounted for 79 percent of Spirit’s $7 billion in net revenue.
One of the ways in which Spirit leaders hope to accomplish that is by building parts of other types of aircraft, including in the rotorcraft space. That’s where Spirit has begun to leverage its expertise in building fuselages—it manufactures the entire 737 fuselage as well as parts of all other Boeing airliner fuselages—and more specifically, composite fuselages, to expand its fortunes in the vertical lift arena.
“We are using lessons learned from all of our fuselage structures business, including our commercial fuselage business,” Dwayne Johnston, Spirit v-p of defense programs, told AIN. “We have developed capabilities and continue to work on breakthrough technologies that can be directly applied to the rotorcraft market. Our capabilities reach across the aerospace industry for design and build of large complex structures.”
Spirit’s foray into helicopters began in 2006 when it was awarded the contract to build the composite fuselage of Lockheed Martin Sikorsky’s CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter for the Marine Corps. In 2010 it delivered the first of nine test unit fuselages to Sikorsky (Booth B2507). The contract calls for up to 200 of the copters that Spirit has begun low-rate production of at two a month.
Spirit builds the fuselages—fashioned from composites and titanium—in a 20,000-square-foot building in Wichita. where it is transported by truck to Sikorsky’s final assembly plant in Connecticut. The cabin of the fuselage is 30 feet long and nearly 9 feet wide, and its height is nearly 7 feet. The CH-53K can lift 27,000 pounds—the equivalent of two motorhomes—over 126 miles, at a maximum temperature of 91.5 degrees. Its lifting capability is more than triple that of the CH-53E. It can also transport 24 troops for medical evacuation.
Spirit took on its second vertical-lift vehicle project in 2012 when Bell Flight (Booth C4007) pegged it to fashion a composite fuselage for its medium-class entry in the Army’s Future Vertical Lift program, the V-280 Valor tiltrotor. Spirit designed and manufactured the fuselage in 22 months and handed it over to Bell in September 2015. The first aircraft is currently undergoing a flight test and demonstration program while Bell awaits an official FVL program launch. “As the Future Vertical Lift plan materializes, Spirit is well positioned to support the volume of helicopters the DoD (Department of Defense) and foreign countries will be replacing over the next decade,” Johnston said.
While Spirit believes the defense sector promises the most growth for its vertical-lift business, “we have looked at civil vertical lift opportunities and will look at them on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Vertical lift “is not currently a significant part of our business,” Johnston said, but Spirit is exploring other helicopter and vertical-lift opportunities.